Bleak House

ness of last night, to watch how it turned out when theday came on. As the prospect gradually revealed itself anddisclosed the scene over which the wind had wandered in the dark,like my memory ove

ncongruous part of the morning, the dark places inmy room all melted away, and the day shone bright upon a cheerfullandscape, prominent in which the old Abbey Church, with itsmassive tow

ea, as I had already been installed into the responsibility of thetea-pot; and then, as they were all rather late and nobody was downyet, I thought I would take a peep at the garden and get someknowledge of that too. I found it quite a delightful place--infront, the pretty avenue and drive by which we had approached (andwhere, by the by, we had cut up the gravel so terribly with ourwheels that I asked the gardener to roll it); at the back, theflower-garden, with my darling at her window up there, throwing itopen to smile out at me, as if she would have kissed me from

s a model to him;he supposed the bee liked to make honey, or he wouldn't do it--nobody asked him. It was not necessary for the bee to make such amerit of his tastes. If every confectioner went buzzing about theworld banging against everything that came in his way andegotistically calling upon everybody to take notice that he wasgoing to his work and must

rld in which there is somuch to see and so short a time to see it in that I must take theliberty of looking

he drone to be willing to be on goodterms with the bee, which, so far as he knew, the easy fellowa

them still listening to him when I withdrew to attend to mynew duties. They had occupied me for some time, and I was passingthrough the passages on my return with my basket of keys on my armwhen M

know, isthe growlery. When I am out of humour, I come an

hen I am deceived ordisappointed in--the w

!"I could not help it; I tried very hard, but being alone with thatbenevolent presence, and meeting his kind eyes, and fee

tion of jumping out, until he turned and I wasreassured by seeing in his eyes

ector, and I take it into my headto be that protector. She grows up, and more than justifies mygood opinion, and I remain her guardian and her friend. What isthere in all this? So, so! Now, we have cleared off old scores,and I have before

as confidentially as if I had been in the habit of conversing withhi

u don't understand this Chancerybus

outa will and the trusts under a will--or it was once. It's aboutnothing but costs now. We are always appearing, and disappearing,and swearing, and interrogating, and filing, and cross-filing, a

eady is referred to that only one man who don't know it tofind out--all through the deplorable cause, everybody must havecopies, over and over again, of everything that has accumulatedabout it in the way of cartloads of papers (or must pay for themwithout having them, which is the usual course, for nobody wantsthem) and must go down the middle and up again through such aninfernal country-dance of costs and fees and nonsense andcorruption as was never dreamed of in the wildest visions of awitch's Sabbath. Equity sends questions to law, law sendsquestions back to equity; law finds it can't do this, equity findsit can't do that; neither can so much as say it can't do anything,without this solicitor instructing and this counsel appearing forA, and that

close. Inthe meantime, the place became dilapidated, the wind whistledthrough the cracked walls, the rain fell through the broken roof,the weeds choked the passage to the rotting door. When I broughtwhat remained of him home here, the brains seemed

ear. Where was I?"I reminded him, at the

but an eyesore and a heartsore. It is a street ofperishing blind houses, with their eyes stoned out, without a paneof glass, without so much as a window-frame, with the bare blankshutters tumbling from their hinges and falling asunder, the ironrails peeling away in flakes of rust, the chimneys sinking in, thestone steps to every door

ea of my wisdom!) "These are things I never talk about or eventhink about, excepting in the growlery here. If you consider itright

re!"--when he feigned to say this slightly, asif it were a whim instead of a thoughtful tenderness. But I gavethe housekeeping keys the l

you to know that I am not clever, but it reallyis the truth, and you would soon find it out if I had not thehonesty to confess it."He did not seem at all

re clever enough to be the good little woman of our liveshere, my dear," he return

woman, and whi

he cobwebs ou

andon the growlery and nail up the door."This was the beginning of my being called Old Woman, and Little OldWoman, and Cobweb, and

ick, a fine young fellow full of promise. What's to be done withh

ching out his legs. "He must havea profession; he must make some choice for himself. There will be

cery Lane--will havesomething to say about it; counsel will have something to say aboutit; the Chancellor will have something to say about it; thesatellites will have something to say about it; they will all haveto be handsomely feed, all round, about it; the whole thing will bevastly ceremoni

lked about, or did both, his facewas sure to recover its benignant expression as it looked at mine;

e best, first of all,

our tact and in your quietway, with him and Ada, and see what you all make of it. We aresure to come at the heart of the matter by your means,

reply except that I woulddo my best, though I feared (I realty felt it necessary to repeatthis) that he tho

lery for one day! Only a concludingword. Esther, my dear, do you wish to ask me anything?"He

yself, sir

were anything I ought to know or had any need toknow, I should not have to ask you to tell it to me. If my wholereliance and confidence were not placed

with him, quite unreserved, quiteco

of the lives of nearly all his correspondentsappeared to be to form themselves into committees for getting inand laying out money. The ladies were as desperate as thegentlemen; indeed, I think they were even more so. They threwthemselves into committees in the most impassioned manner andcollected subscriptions with a vehemence quite extraordinary. Itappeared to us that some of them must pass th

o pay off debts on oldbuildings, they were going to establish in a picturesque building(engraving of propo

e deep devotion to him waswell known, they were going to get up everything, I really believe,from five hundre

inations. They appeared tobe always excited about canvassing and electing. They seemed toour poor wits, and according to their own accounts, to beconstantly pollin

se the expression) was a Mrs. Pardiggle, whoseemed, as I judged from the number of her l

en Mrs. Pardiggle becamethe subject of conver

did a little and made a great deal of noise; the other, thepeople who did a great deal and made no noise at all. We weretherefore curio

f room. And she really did, for she knocked down little chairswith her skirts that were quite a great way off. As only Ada and Iwere

ence to the Great National Smithers Testimonial. Francis, mythird (nine), one and sixpence halfpenny; Felix, my fourth (seven),eightpence to the Superannuated Widows; Alfred, my youngest (five),has voluntarily enrolled himself in the Infant Bonds of Joy, and ispledged never, through life, to use tobacco in any form."We had never seen such dissatisfied children. It was not merelythat they were weazened and shrivelled--though they were certainlythat to--but th

said Mrs. Pardiggle, "atMrs. Jellyby's?"

a helping hand. My boys have contributed to the Africanproject--Egbert, one and six, being the entire allowance of nineweeks; Oswald, one and a penny halfpenny, being the same; the rest,according to their little means. Nevertheless, I do not go withMrs. Jellyby in all things. I do not go with Mrs. Jellyby in hertreatment of her young family. It has been noticed. It has beenobserved th

Linen Box Committee and many general committees;and my canvassing alone is very extensive--perhaps no one's moreso. But they are my companions everywhere; and by these means theyacquire that knowledge of the poor, and that capacity of doingcharitable business in general--in short, that taste for the sortof thing--which will render them in aft

very few children whomanifested consciousness on that occasion after a fervid address oftwo hours from the c

which I have referred, in the possession ofour esteemed friend Mr. Jarndyce, that the na

utdown my mite first; then my young family enrol their contribut

, but, we trust, improving toothers."Suppose Mr. Pardiggle were to dine with Mr. Jellyby, and supposeMr. Jellyby were to relieve his mind after dinner to Mr. Pard

antly situated here!"

dow,pointed out the beauties of the prospect, on which the

. Gusher?" sai

at we had not the pleasure

would improve almost any occasion you could mention for hours andhours! By this time, young ladies," said Mrs. Pardiggle, movingback to her chair and overturning, as if by invisible agency, alittle round table at a considerable distance with my work-basketon it,

t inmy character. I am aware that it is so prominent as to bedi

oaccustomed and inured to hard work that I don't know what fatigueis."We murmured that it was very astonishing and very g

I go through sometimes astonishes myself. I haveseen my young family, and Mr. Pardiggle, quite worn out withwitnessing it, when I may truly say I have been as fresh as alark!"If that dark-visaged eldest boy c

capable of fatigue, mygood friend, I am never tired, and I mean to go on until I havedone.' It answers admirably! Miss Summerson, I hope I shall haveyour assistance in my visitin

licate knowledge of the heart whichmust be essential to such a work. That I had much to learn,myself, before I could teach others, and that I could not confidein my good intentions alone. For these reasons I thought it bestto be as useful as I could, and to render what kind s

k, Iam now about--with my young family--to visit a brickmaker in theneighbourhood (a very bad character) and shall be glad to take youwith me. Miss Clare also, if she will do me the favour."Ada

rly all thelight objects it contained. Mrs. Pardiggle

she had for two or three yearswaged against another lady relative to the bringing in of theirrival candidates for a pension somewhere. There had been aquantity of p

On mypointing out the great impropriety of the word, especially inconnexion with his parent (for he added sulkily "By her!"), hepinched me and said, "Oh, then! Now! Who are you! YOU wouldn'tlike it, I think? What does she make a sham for, and pretend togive me money, and take it away again? Why do you call it mya

tobacco, so swelled with grief and rage when wepassed a pastry-cook's shop that he terrified me by becomingpurple. I never underwent so much, both in

nt pools. Here and there an oldtub was put to catch the droppings of rain-water from a roof, orthey were banked up with mud into a little pond like a large dirt-pie. At the doors and windows some men and women lounged orprowled abou

y about the untidyhabits of the people (though I doubted if the best of us could havebeen tidy in such a

nd looking very dissipated,lying at full length on the ground, smoking a pipe; a powerfulyoung man fastening a collar on a dog; and a bold girl doing somekind of washing i

you know. I am fond of hard work, andam true to my word.""There an't," growled the man on the floor, whose head rested onhis hand as he stared at us, "any more on you to come in, isthere?""No, my friend," said Mrs

youngman, whom we had attracted to the doorway and who stood t

on the floor. "Iwants it done, and over. I wants a end of these liberties tookwith my place. I wants an end of being drawed like a badger. Nowyou're a-going to poll-pry and question accordin

's a book fit for a babby,and I'm not a babby. If you was to leave me a doll, I shouldn'tnuss it. How have I been conducting of myself? Why, I've beendrunk for three days; and I'da been drunk four if I'da had themoney. Don't I never mean for to go to church? No, I don't nevermean for to go to church. I shouldn't be expected there, if I did;the beadle's too gen-teel for me. And how did my wife get thatblack eye? Why, I give it her; and if she says I didn't, she's alie!"He had pulled his pip

e the dog bark, which he usually did when Mrs. Pardiggle wasmost emphatic. We both felt painfully sensible that between us andthese people there was an iron barrier which could not be removedby our new friend. By whom or how it could be removed, we did notknow, but we knew that. Even what she read and said seemed to usto be

ved, under these cir

ggle le

one, have you?""For to-day, I have, my friend. But I am never fatigued. I shallcome to y

an oath, "you may do wot you like!"Mrs. Pardiggle accordingly rose and made a l

s house would be improved when she saw them next, she thenproceeded to another cottage. I hope it is not unkind in me to saythat she certainl

oon as the spacewas left clear, we approached the w

ed at it she covered her discoloured eye with herhand, as though she wished to separat

e, bent down totouch its little face. As she did so,

my love, the little thing! The suffering,quiet, pretty little thing! I am so sorry

weeping and put her hand upon the mother's might have softened anymother's heart tha

t the prettier and gentler, laid it on a shelf,and covered it with my own handkerchief.

ing, but sat weepin

oking in upon us with dry eyes, butquiet. The girl was quiet too and sat in a corner looking on

ed in while I was glancingat them, and comi

on being so addressed and

grace of sympathy; but whenshe condoled with the woman, and her own tears fell, she wanted nobeauty. I

her; to see how they felt for one another, how the heart ofeach to each was softened by the hard trials of their lives. Ithink th

hem uninterrupted. Westole out quietly and

y room for us to pass, went out before us. Heseemed to want to hide that he did th

hesaid to me, when she was not present, how beautiful it was too!),that we arranged to return at night with some little comfor

about the door. Amongthem, and prominent in some dispute, was the father of the littlechild. At a short distance, we passed the young man and the dog,in congenial com

eeded by ourselves. When we came to the door, we found thewoman who ha

ng for my master. My heart's in my mouth. If he was tocatch me away fro

ut what we hadbrought near the miserable bed on which the mother slept. Noeffort had been made to clean the room--it seemed in its naturealmost hopeless of being clean; but the small waxen form from whichso much solemnity diffused itself had b

he returned with surprise. "Hush! Jenny,Jenny!"The mother had moaned in her sleep and m

whose unquiet bosom that handkerchief wouldcome to lie after covering the motionless and peaceful breast! Ionly thought that perhaps the Angel of the child might not be allunconscious of the woman who replaced it with